Building improvements underway as we overcome extra challenges caused by bad weather

Some of our courts and tribunals buildings can be uncomfortable and difficult to use, even at the best of times. We are well aware of the challenges, and we’re doing everything we can with the resources available to us to improve the situation now and in the longer term through our reform programme. The bad weather over the last week has added some extra challenges (and put existing ones in sharp relief) and so I wanted to write a bit more about what we are doing to address them.

Thank you for your support and patience

Before updating you on our programme of small fixes and maintenance work, I wanted to take the opportunity to acknowledge the hard work and commitment of so many colleagues and partners in keeping services going - and ensuring access to justice against the odds - through the rain, wind, blizzards and snow. This includes court employees, contractors, legal professionals, the judiciary and our partners. It’s been a tough week, but with your support we have kept our buildings open wherever we can and tried to make sure that where we didn’t, we gave good information and re-organised things quickly.

And for those due to visit a court or tribunal during this period, thank you for your patience and support while we responded to the challenging weather conditions. We don’t ever take lightly the decision to close a building and we understand the frustration it causes when hearings are rescheduled. Your co-operation has made it much easier for us to keep things going over the past week. Thank you.

Quick fixes to improve our buildings

Last autumn, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Chief Justice and Senior President of Tribunals announced an additional £5m to invest in improving courts and tribunals buildings by the end of this month (March 2018). The one-off fund is supplementary to the annual maintenance budget, and is giving us the opportunity to carry out a wide range of relatively small ‘fixes’ which we believe will start to make a difference to people who work in and visit our buildings (and which in past years we haven’t been able to prioritise). Overall, nearly 250 sites are benefitting from the funding, which will see almost 300 projects completed. These range from new carpets and chairs in waiting rooms to refurbished receptions, plastering and painting, and mending broken fixtures and fittings. In the coming weeks, we’ll regularly update you on our progress with local projects through our Twitter account @HMCTSgovuk

Making progress, but more to do

Our working environment has a big impact on how we feel, as well as on what we can practically do. We believe that the type of projects described above go a small way towards improving comfort, accessibility and, in some instances, security too.

But these are relatively small changes and we also need to address bigger, underlying problems. We are working hard to spend our capital maintenance budget – some £35m a year – as well as possible too. In the current programme, we have projects underway or completed to replace 23 boilers, 15 roofs and 33 lifts, and we are planning more for next year.

Derby Magistrates' Court

Beyond this, through our reform programme, we intend to make more significant improvements to the condition and design of our buildings. These are long-term plans that may take many years and, of course, a lot of money to come to fruition. But our recent investment of over £8m in Birmingham Civil Justice Centre and £5.5m in renovating what was Aylesbury Magistrates’ Court, shows our commitment. In Birmingham we have created a prime example of the future of our courts and tribunals, providing 12 new multi-purpose and digitised courtrooms, more modern public space, and 19 new rooms for the judiciary. And in Aylesbury our investment has provided a modern and accessible three Crown Courtroom centre, improving the environment for everyone who works there.

The court estate is complex. The nature of the buildings varies significantly, from the 17th-century Derby Magistrates’ Court (one of our oldest courts in use) to the 21st-century Rolls Building in London. Every month our Facilities Management helpdesk handles an average of 9,500 calls. As well as setting individual issues straight, we are also investing in a comprehensive survey of the estate that will allow us to do more and better planned and proactive maintenance, so that we have fewer problems arising that need fixing. We’ll still have to make some hard choices about resources; but I am confident that the combination of ongoing maintenance, quick fixes, dedicated local teams and a cohesive longer-term estates strategy will make steady and incremental improvements to our courts and tribunals.